Regional library
Lochaber & Glen Coe Library
Explore Lochaber’s published walking routes, scrambles, lochs, bothies and film locations, with guides to Highland weather, hill lists and mountain names.
Hiking Route Guides
Hill Lists and People
Access and Mountain Safety
3 guides
Aonach Eagach: The Ridge That Doesn't Let You Change Your Mind
Why the Aonach Eagach demands proper scrambling skills, honest self-assessment, and a good weather forecast—because once you're on it, you're finishing it.
Reading avalanche forecasts: what they mean for your route
The Scottish Avalanche Information Service rates hazard by altitude and aspect, not as one blanket level for a whole area. The practical skill is reading location, elevation and slope angle together so you can choose a different route before you reach suspect terrain.
The Wild Camping Grey Area: Where You Can, Where You Can't, and Why Scotland's Different
Britain's wild camping laws are a proper muddle: you generally need permission in England and Wales, Dartmoor's commons offer a genuine legal right to pitch, and Scotland grants access across most land under its own statute. The confusion comes from assuming that permission to walk somewhere includes permission to sleep there, which it usually doesn't, and the legal ground shifts beneath your boots without so much as a signpost to warn you.
Film Locations
3 guides
Freedom: Braveheart in the Highlands
Glen Nevis and the mountains surrounding it became the Scotland of William Wallace in *Braveheart*. Explore the real Highland locations behind the battles, journeys and speeches that made the film famous.
The Road to Skyfall: James Bond in Glen Etive
Bond’s journey home in *Skyfall* followed a narrow Highland road beneath the mountains of Glen Etive. Discover the viewpoint from the film and the wild glen that found itself playing a rather convincing part in 007’s past.
Finding Hogwarts in the Scottish Highlands
The journey to Hogwarts wound through some very real Scottish scenery. Follow the films through Glenfinnan, Loch Shiel, Rannoch Moor and Glencoe, where railway viaducts, lonely lochs and Highland mountains supplied much of the magic.
Bothies and Overnight Shelters
2 guides
Sourlies Bothy: A Remote Shelter on Loch Nevis
A small MBA bothy on the shore of Loch Nevis with no road access. Rough approach, camping likely. Remote, quiet, and properly off-grid.
Culra Bothy: Asbestos, Demolition & Rebuilding
How asbestos closed one of Scotland's most remote bothies in 2014, why it was demolished in 2025, and when the replacement might appear.
Lochs and Water
Long-Distance Walking
1 guide
Weather and Navigation
4 guides
Why the Wind Accelerates When You're Already Having a Bad Day
Mountain wind doesn’t blow steadily—it can funnel and accelerate at col crossings and ridge lines. Here’s why exposed terrain can make a forecast wind feel considerably stronger.
The Phone Signal Lottery: Which Networks Reach Which Summits
Mountain mobile coverage changes by route, position, network and handset. Learn how to check current predictions, use offline tools and plan for calling 999 or 112 without treating signal bars as a safety guarantee.
The Brocken Spectre
When the sun sits behind you and mist lies ahead, your shadow can loom across the cloud with coloured glory rings around it—a Brocken Spectre that is dramatic, personal and always worth viewing from a safe position.
Alpenglow and Fata Morgana: UK Mountain Optical Illusions
On rare, still days, layered air can warp the horizon while low sunlight paints the ridges pink—proving the hills don’t have to be soaking wet to hold your attention.
History and Heritage
1 guide
Landscape and Place Names
4 guides
Why Scotland's Mountains Are Full of Mòrs and Beags
Once you know that "mòr" means big and "beag" means small in Scottish Gaelic, you'll spot this wonderfully pragmatic naming system all over Highland maps—because when you've got two similar lumps of rock next to each other, calling one the big version and one the wee version does the job without requiring ancient warrior legends or any particular imagination.
Why Scottish mountains are called sgòr, sgùrr and stob
Ever wondered why Scottish mountains are called sgòr, sgùrr and stob? They're not random—they're Gaelic descriptions of what the peak actually looks like from below.
The Language of Water
A guide to the Norse and regional water terms found across the British uplands—and what they can, and cannot, tell you about the terrain.
Is it a hill, is it a fell, is it a mountain?
The UK’s names for high places—hills, fells, mountains and tors—reflect language and local custom, while the familiar 2,000-foot line is a hill-list convention rather than an official OS rule.
Wildlife and Working Landscapes
1 guide
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